2015年CRI US Senate blamed for curtailing surveillance system

 

US lawmakers have been struggling to restore the controversial surveillance program, one of the key provisions of the Patriot¹ Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks.

The secret program was exposed by former NSA contractor² Edward Snowden and triggered an uproar³ among rights groups blasting it as an intrusion of privacy.

Congress has been debating significant changes to the law, trying to replace it with a more targeted system.

New legislation called the USA Freedom Act has already been passed in the House of Representatives, but it's now stalled in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other leading Republicans are seeking changes.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest is blaming the Senate's failure to pass legislation for bringing an unnecessary risk to the country.

"They've have had a year and a half to exercise that prerogative⁴ and now that they have blown through the deadline. I think most reasonable people would assume that that is a privilege and a right that they, for the good of the country, should relinquish⁵ so that we can enact⁶ a piece of legislation that has the strong support of Democrats⁷ and Republicans, it has the strong support of our national security professionals and of course has the strong support of the President of the United States. And rather than getting into additional political gamesmanship."

The legal lapse⁸ also means at least a temporary end to the FBI's authority to gather business records in terrorism and espionage⁹ investigations¹⁰.

Experts believe a vote will get to the Senate floor sometime this week.

But Harley Geiger with the Center for Democracy and Technology warns there night be no early solution in sight.

"If the Senate majority leader weakens the USA Freedom Act, then it has to go back to the House and then whatever the House passes it may be different and has to go back to the Senate. This could be over in as short as a couple days, or it could be over in weeks, months. It is very uncertain. But, they could have ended it last night. They could have ended weeks ago and they have chosen not to."

President Barack Obama supports the USA Freedom Act, which ends NSA bulk collection of U.S. phone records but allows the agency to search records held by phone companies.

For CRI, I'm Chloe Lyme .

1 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

2 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

3 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

4 prerogative   

n.特权

参考例句：

• It is within his prerogative to do so.他是有权这样做的。
• Making such decisions is not the sole prerogative of managers.作这类决定并不是管理者的专有特权。

5 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。

6 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

9 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

10 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。